


That Sly Little Smile I Call a Smirk

by colls



Category: Stargate Atlantis, Stargate SG-1
Genre: M/M, Pre-Series
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-01-19
Updated: 2010-01-19
Packaged: 2017-10-07 22:09:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,595
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/69753
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/colls/pseuds/colls
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Of all the things John has ever talked Cam into, the first one was... then the toilet caught fire....</p>
            </blockquote>





	That Sly Little Smile I Call a Smirk

**Author's Note:**

  * For [blueskypenguin](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=blueskypenguin).



> Written for [](http://community.livejournal.com/sg_flyboys/profile)[**sg_flyboys**](http://community.livejournal.com/sg_flyboys/) 2010 Thing-a-Thon

It was January in Colorado Springs which meant that the Air Force Academy cadets had returned from their winter break. First Class Cadet Samantha Carter sighed as she read the list of the new student lab proctors the science department was getting this semester. Lab proctors often doubled as tutors and were there to assist other students with various lab projects. Doolies, even those at the top of the class, didn't typically have time to proctor their first semester. However, she was hoping for some fresh faces during the second semester.

What Sam was getting were two doolies. One was named Hector Wilson and he seemed promising. He had won the Wisconsin State Science Award two years running and had turned down a scholarship at M.I.T to attend the Air Force Academy. It was the other one that made her sigh. Fourth Class Cadet John Sheppard was assigned to the lab as a disciplinary measure for an unspecified activity that apparently occurred his first night here.

Sam wondered what set of rules he had broken, and if he were like those who came to the academy under the mistaken impression that the Air Force was less intense than other military branches. Either way, he was due to start immediately and Professor Campbell had promised her he was smart. Very smart.

 

**********  
Fourth Class Cadet Cameron Mitchell squared away his gear and glanced at the other three bunks in the room. He didn't mind Jenkins and Ferguson so much, but he was determined to continue avoiding Sheppard this semester.

Sheppard didn't seem serious about a career in the Air Force, in fact he had even snuck out of the room his first night on campus. Of course, he got caught. He also never seemed to do any actual studying and Mitchell was frankly surprised he had passed all his classes last semester. Even most of the instructors seemed to be frustrated by Sheppard's lack of proper respect for authority.

Sheppard would usually ask Cam to hang out after meal times at least twice a week. Once in a while Cam would accept because he didn't want to seem rude, and they both could talk for hours about various aircraft they wanted to fly, so that was okay. But Cam was pretty certain that hanging out with his roommate would most likely result in Cam getting into more trouble than he wanted.

And there was something else about Sheppard that bothered him. He always smirked like he was up to no good, or like he knew something you didn't. A couple of times, when they got into heated debates about jets versus choppers, Sheppard would lean back in his mess hall chair, put his hands behind his head and smirk. Cam was pretty certain that nothing he said had actually been amusing, so it was a little odd.

Sometimes Mitchell would be stuck running next to him during morning drills and Sheppard would smirk at him. Mitchell supposed that he was just trying to be friendly, but he was starting to see that smirk in his dreams... in THOSE kind of dreams... and it was becoming embarrassing.

Just as Cam was about to head to the mess hall, the object of his thoughts burst into the room and smirked. Mitchell felt his face get warm. _Damnit._

"Hey, Mitchell. Just the man I was looking for. I've got something cooking over at one of the science labs." Sheppard opened up Mitchell's locker and grabbed his coat for him. "Let's go."

Calmly taking his coat from Sheppard, Mitchell started to put it back in his locker. "I'm not interested."

"Didn't you hear me? I said 'science labs'. Aren't you taking chemistry this semester?" Sheppard stepped in a bit closer than Mitchell liked.

"Yea, so?"

"Well, I kinda got suckered into... y'know... helping out."

"What do you mean 'helping out'?"

"Remember the first night back in August when they caught me sneaking out?"

"Uh huh." Mitchell nodded, he still wasn't sure where this was going.

"Well, as punishment they stuck me with helping their head geek-cadet over there. So, since you're taking chemistry this semester, I thought we could get creative and get me out of it."

Mitchell put his hands up, "Ok, step back a minute. Are you talking about the lab proctors - the SMART lab proctors who help other cadets with various lab projects?"

Sheppard reached back into Mitchell's locker and pulled out his coat again. "Yes. The nerd thing. I really don't want to be on the geek-squad. It'll cut into my flight time."

"One - you don't get any flight time until next year, and two - why did they pick you?"

"One - I get flight time starting this semester because I'm already a certified pilot. I was sneaking out to make sure the jerks at the civilian airport stored my Cessna properly." Sheppard shrugged, "and two - maybe the head geek-cadet thinks I'm cute."

"Seriously?" Mitchell tried to sound as doubtful as he could. Then Sheppard smirked at him and he almost choked.

"Whatever. I don't know why they picked me." He tossed Mitchell's coat over. "And when I said I had something cooking in the science lab, I wasn't kidding. We've got to go. I'll explain on the way." Sheppard then rummaged around in his own locker and grabbed a tube of something before slamming it shut.

Mitchell reluctantly followed him out the door. "If I get in trouble for this, I'm totally kicking your ass."

 

**********  
Sam was engrossed in an article on thermodynamic equilibrium when she noticed a burning smell. She checked the roster and noticed that Fourth Class Cadet Sheppard had booked the chemistry lab for a tutoring session with another doolie who, interestingly enough, was also listed in the same room and barracks as Sheppard. She put on her lab coat and walked over to the chemistry lab. She opened the door to chaos.

"Get the fire extinguisher! It's on the wall near the other door!" Cadet Sheppard's voice came from across the room. He was grabbing a beaker from a bunsen burner with gloved hands and rushing out the other door on the far side of the lab. "Follow me but don't spray it yet."

The other cadet rushed to grab the fire extinguisher from the wall while Sam marched foward. "Cadet Sheppard, what is going on? What is in the beaker?"

Sheppard turned towards her briefly, "No time to explain at the moment. I have to dispose of this right away, ma'am." The other cadet nodded to her briefly then followed Sheppard out of the room with the fire extinguisher in his hands.

Sam walked into the lab checked to make sure the bunsen burner was off and that the gas valve had been closed (it had been, but it was still warm) before following the other two cadets out the far door. She was also mentally cataloguing the other items she had seen strewn around on the lab bench.

The pair had walked into the men's head across the hall and Sam hesitated a moment before pushing open the door. One side of the room contained urinals and sinks while the other contained several bathroom stalls. Cadet Sheppard was in one of the stalls while the other cadet stood back and was aiming the fire extinguisher.

Sheppard began backing out of the stall, "Ok, now make sure aim the nozzle directly at the top of the glass." Mitchell complied, his aim so good that the beaker was all he hit. Of course, it exploded and then the toilet caught fire.

Sam began laughing. "This isn't getting you out of lab duty, Cadet Sheppard. And shame on you for roping your roommate into this." She sniffed the air and lifted her lab coat to cover her head while the two cadets looked blankly at her.

A heartbeat later, the smoke alarms sounded and the sprinkler system was activated. Cam looked surprised, and turned to glare at Cadet Sheppard. Sheppard merely smirked.

 

 

***********  
Rather than reporting the cadets and writing them up, Cadet Carter explained that they had been performing an experiment. She used it as an opportunity to suggest that more proctors be assigned to the lab area in the evenings, especially if the freshmen class was so zealous in exploring scientific work. She also commended Cadet Sheppard's quick actions and he groaned inwardly was his hours were increased from 8 to 10 hours per week. He reported back to the lab following dinner to help Sam lock up and close down for the night.

"So, how did you talk your roommate into helping you set the bathroom on fire?" Sam asked casually.

"I didn't exactly tell him what the plan was."

"And he came along anyway?"

"Yea, I'm actually pretty shocked by that one. Maybe I'm finally wearing him down."

"You're not the first person to set something on fire to try and get out of lab duty, but I must admit that your method was more creative than most." Sam stood and hung up her lab coat.

Picking up the keys, she continued to lock up the various labs with Cadet Sheppard following behind her in order to learn the routine as he was now on the evening shift two nights a week. "The fire didn't start until the sodium bicarbonate from the fire extinguisher was combined with both water and the contents of your beaker. I saw hydrochloride and magnesium potassium out on the bench, but what did you get to bind it together?"

Sheppard shrugged. "Hair gel."

***end***


End file.
